The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
Most people use this passage of scripture
as 'the Alpha scripture' for forgiveness'.
I disagree.
For this verse seems to make forgiveness an unconditional obligation,
which seems contrary to other scripture.
And I was taught that when two pieces of scriptures seem to contradict each other
then our understanding is flawed. Correct?
Jesus twice used the phrase "...if he repents..."
And in John 20, Jesus said, after coming down from Heaven after rising from the dead:
21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven;
if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
And this is this the very reason for this website, to pull the focus off Matthew 6,
perhaps the first scripture that solidly talks about forgiveness,
and force people to read later verses too, to get a balanced view of the scriptures.
(photo: wikipedia)